Press release

Sat, Nov 10th 2012 09:00 am

New
Yorkers in disaster counties are eligible for 90 day grace period to
pay loans

Gov.
Andrew M. Cuomo, on Friday, directed New York State Higher Education
Services Corporation to grant temporary student loan relief to New
Yorkers who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. If requested, New
Yorkers in Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond,
Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties are now eligible to
receive a 90 day grace period, from Oct. 27 to Jan. 25, 2013, in
order to repay their student loan payments. All members of the
military who have been called to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane
Sandy will also be eligible.

"We
are working to provide New Yorkers recovering from Hurricane Sandy
with as much relief and support as possible," Cuomo said. "Those
who lost homes or are still without power should not be burdened with
the added worry of being late on their student loan payments. The
grace period we are providing will give these New Yorkers some
breathing room to focus on rebuilding and restarting their lives
after the storm."

In
addition to the suspension of collections efforts, other actions to
assist impacted student loan borrowers will include the suspension or
reversal of delinquency or default notifications made by HESC to
credit reporting agencies, the suspension of referrals for
administrative wage garnishment and the suspension of collections
calls to federal student loan borrowers in New York, New Jersey and
Connecticut who are delinquent in their federal student loan
payments.

"More
than 80 percent of our borrowers with delinquent or defaulted student
loans reside in and around the New York City metropolitan area,"
said Elsa Magee, acting president of HESC. "This is another
component of the governor's overall effort to assist those who have
been adversely impacted by Sandy."

Borrowers
should contact HESC to request a temporary suspension by calling
1-866-991-HESC (4372) or by emailing [email protected].
A specific option has been added to the toll-free number for Sandy
victims.